{In addition to their record release, this Saturday at the legendary Funky Sole in Echo Park, you can catch Myron & E live and direct this Summer as part of the Stones Throw Soul Tour! Check this link for dates and locations}

I’ve been spinning music from Myron & E ever since I first received their single “It’s A Shame” in a package of 45s from the Timmion record label back in 2010. The fact they were backed by the Soul Investigators was intriguing enough, but more than anything it was the vocals that drew me to the group, through their definitely not run-of-the mill sonority and interesting use of melody & harmony. Since then it’s been seemingly an endless wait for their full-length record to be released, but it is finally here (released TODAY as a matter of fact). Myron & E were in the LA area for a spell and sat in with me to chat about how the group got together, how they hooked up with the Soul Investigators, their now trademark soul sound and even a few songwriting secrets. We’d intended to record a guest DJ session with E Da Boss after the interview, but some asshole absconded with the KPFK mixer (there really should be a special place in Hell for people who steal from community/public radio stations), so we had to get it recorded through other means at a later date. E Da Boss is one of the residents at the 45 Sessions and he definitely comes correct on the 45 vinyl for this very eclectic set. Hopefully I’ll get a tracklist soon, but with tracks from Benny Sharp & the Sharpies, Jodi Gayles, Mark Capanni (the original version of “I Believe In Miracles”!!!) and Gil Scott-Heron I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one to the fullest!

Myron & E Interview on KPFK’s Melting Pot:  06-21-2013
Guest DJ Set from E Da Boss for KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 06-29-2013

Generally at the end of the month we’re all on vinyl. This time I had to make a Serato “exception” in order to pay tribute to Bobby “Blue” Bland at the start of the show, an artist who’s work I appreciate but I haven’t ever really collected. The rest of the time is devoted to one of my favorite recent “Soul” bands, Myron & E (separate post to follow). During the first hour we talk about how the group got together and how they settled on their particular brand of Soul, with help from Finland’s the Soul Investigators. In the second hour we have quite a treat from E Da Boss, a guest DJ set culled from his 45 collection. Next week we’ll be running down the “Best So Far” of the year, so join us then!

Melting Pot on KPFK #132: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #132: Second Hour

{Opening Theme} Boris Gardiner – Melting Pot – Is What’s Happening (Dynamic)

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Bobby Blue Bland – I Pity The Fool – Two Steps From The Blues (Duke)
Bobby Blue Bland – That Did It – 7” (Duke)
Bobby Blue Bland – Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City – Dreamer (ABC Dunhill)
Bobby Blue Bland – I’ll Take Care Of You – Two Steps From The Blues (Duke)
Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band – Express Yourself II – You’re So Beautiful (WB)

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Myron & E – Interview – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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E Da Boss – Guest DJ Set – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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{closing theme} Myron & E – On Broadway (Instrumental) – 7” (Timmion)

It was our pleasure to bring in Chelsea and Justine Brown of the Summer Twins this past week for a session at Melting Pot. The band has been playing a residency at the Bootleg Bar during June (still one chance to catch them TODAY and make sure you dress spiffy, it’s a prom night themed show!) and with the start of Summer, it seemed like a perfect time to bring them into the station. We talked about the inspiration for the name “Summer Twins,” their evolving sound and even touched on the touchy subject of being labeled “a girl group.” They also played four songs, “I Don’t Care,” “I’m No Good,” “I’ll Always Love You” and their super sweet cover of the Everly Brothers “All I Have To Do Is Dream.” Enjoy the sounds and look for them to do a West Coast tour later on this Summer!

The Summer Twins on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 06-17-2013

Always nice to begin Summer in our traditional style with the first song that comes to my mind when this season comes around, Arthur Lee and Love’s “the Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This” from Forever Changes. There’s a sprinkling of other Summer songs in the mix, as well as new tunes from the Pastels, Omar, Myron & E, Quadron, Bosq, Am & Shawn Lee, SoKo and a strikingly modern new album from Booker T. Jones. In the second hour we have an interview with Chelsea and Justine of the Summer Twins (separate post to follow) where they play several songs and we chat about the group and their sound. Next week we’ll be on vinyl for a bit, but most of our time will be given over to Myron & E, for an interview and an all 45 vinyl DJ set!

Melting Pot on KPFK #131: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #131: Second Hour

Playlist: 06-23-2013
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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Love – The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This – Forever Changes (Elektra)
The Pastels – Nighttime Made Us – Slow Summits (Domino)
Myron & E – They Don’t Know – Broadway (Stones Throw)
Mike James Kirkland – Hang On In There – Don’t Sell Your Soul (Luv’n’Haight)
Shelton Kirby – Poor Wayfaring Stranger – Good God: Apocryphal Hymns (Numero)

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Golden Grrrls – Past Tense – Golden Grrrls (Slumberland)
The Spinanes – Sunday – Manos (Sub Pop)
Quadron – Neverland – Avalanche (Vested In Culture)
Omar feat. Caron Wheeler – Treat You – The Man (Freestyle)
Shuggie Otis – Miss Pretty – Inspiration Information/Wings Of Love (Legacy)

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Booker T feat. Luke James – All Over The Place – Sound The Alarm (Stax)
Soundsci – Inner Energy – Soundsational (Ubiquity)
Femi Kuti – No Place For My Dream – No Place For My Dream (Knitting Factory)
Bosq feat. Jesus Pagan – Pura Candela – Bosq y Orquesta de Madera (Ubiquity)
AM & Shawn Lee – Good Blood – La Musique Numerique (Park The Van)
Chicano Batman – Ballad Of Raymundo Jacquez – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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The Summer Twins – Interview & Performance – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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The Summer Twins – Forget Me – 7” (Burger Records)
Broadcast – Before We Begin – The Ha Ha Sound (Warp)
Lois – Sunrise Semester – Infinity Plus (K RECS)
SoKo – Treat Your Woman Right – I Thought I Was An Alien (Community)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

Quite nice to spend this past Sunday on theo show for Father’s Day. Spent most of the weekend with my Dad, on a rare trip out from Atlanta, and it was nice to begin the show with a tribute to him, my father-in-law and to all Fathers. Fair amount of new tunes after that from Camera Obscura, Bosq feat. Tita Lima, Myron & E, The Summer Twins (who will be our guest next week!) and more. At the top of the second hour we pay tribute to Bay Area underground soul legend Darondo. As I’ll be discussing in a post coming up soon, “Didn’t I” is just about the most perfect sweet soul song ever, and I honestly considered just playing that 4 or 5 times in a row, but thankfully I got a fair amount of music from Darondo passed to me from Oliver Wang at Soul-Sides and one of his readers Josh Lillvis. Enjoy the show!

Melting Pot on KPFK #130: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #130: Second Hour

Playlist: 06-16-2013
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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George Strait – Amarillo By Morning – Strait From The Heart (MCA)
Vicente Fernandez – Mi Padre
Jerry Butler – Walk Easy My Son – The Sagitarrius Movement (Mercury)
Big K.R.I.T. – Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Live From The Underground (Island)
Leon Thomas – Song For My Father – Spirits Known And Unknown (Flying Dutchman)

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King – Hey – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)
The Pastels – Slow Summits – Slow Summits (Domino)
Bosq feat. Tita Lima – Pacienca De Jo – Bosq y Orquesta De Madera (Ubiquity)

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Summer Twins – Darlin’ – Forget Me EP (Burger Records)
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou – Min We Tun So – Vol. 3: The Skeletal Essence of Afro-Funk 1969-1982 (Analog Africa)
Yasmine Hamdan – Deny – Ya Nass (Six Degrees)
The Heliocentrics – Eastern Begena – 13 Degrees Of Reality (Now-Again)

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Darondo – Didn’t I – 7” (Music City)
Darondo – Summertime – Recorded By Justin Torres (Soul-Sides.Com)
Darondo – My Momma and My Poppa – Let My People Go (Ubqiuity/Luv N’ Haight)
Darondo – What’s Going On/Mercy Mercy Me – Recorded By Justin Torres (Soul-Sides.Com)
Darondo – Listen To My Song – Listen To My Song: The Music City Sessions (BGP)

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Quasimoto – Brothers Can’t See Me – Yessir, Whatever (Stones Throw)
Dam-Funk – Fadin’ – I Don’t Wanna Be A Star (Stones Throw)
Myron & E – Everyday Love – Broadway (Stones Throw)

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Dom La Nena – Anjo Gabriel – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)
Nelson Angelo e Joyce – Comunhao – Nelson Angelo e Joyce (Odeon)
Camera Obscura – Cri Du Coeur – Desire Lines (4ad)
Golden Grrrls – Think Of The Ways – Golden Grrrls (Slumberland)
Omar – I Can Listen – The Man (Freestyle)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

The beginning of the year is a often a time where very little happens musically. Most labels have their releases prepped for prime periods of the year, so the release of Dom La Nena’s Ela in January by Six Degrees was a welcome surprise. An even greater surprise was the opportunity to have Dom spend time with us at KPFK as she embarked on her first shows in the US. In live performance, at least on this occassion, she performed entirely by herself on Cello, Ankle bells and Keyboard, using a loop pedal to give the appearance of a full string quartet. It’s a really fascinating sound and in our interview we talk about what brought her to the cello, the influence of her many travels on her music, finding her voice and how she arrived at her particular style.

Dom played 5 songs, all featured on her debut release though in very different formats, “No Meu Pais,”
“Anjo Gabriel,” “O Vento,” “Ela,” and “Buenos Aires.” The last track features the voices of yours truly, sound engineer Mark Maxwell and Dom’s husband Jeremiah providing background vocals at the very end in what I dub as the “KPFK Chorus” at the end of the interview. Truly a unique experience and a captivating snapshot of an artist on the rise.

Dom La Nena on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 05-31-2013

Nice to be back on the air after a successful fundraiser for the station, though somewhat disappointing one for us. The only nice thing (and I mean the ONLY) about coming back after a hiatus is that there is often a lot of new music to bring to you. This week is no exception, with new releases from the Pastels, Omar, The Summer Twins, Boogaloo Assassins, Camera Obscura, Shannon & the Clams and more. The show begins with a protest song out of Turkey. For the better part of a week, many people in Turkey have been protesting what they view as an authoritarian “democractic” government. Increasingly the movement has incorporated some interesting cultural elements and more than a few protest songs have started to make their way onto the internet. The most intriguing one comes from Kardeş Türküler who take a dismissive comment from the PM in Turkey into a truly exceptional work of art. I rarely post additional materials on these breakdown posts, but here it seems important to have the video, especially since it has the translation of the lyrics and footage of the ongoing protests.

In our second hour we broadcast an interview and performance with Dom La Nena, recorded while she was in town to play at Make Music Pasadena and the Hotel Cafe. Dom’s debut album, Ela, might have slipped under the radar of some since it was released at the very start of the year, but we certainly heard it and it’s still one of my favorite records of the year. Got a lot of response from this one, it’s definitely a keeper.

Melting Pot on KPFK #129: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #129: Second Hour

Playlist: 6-9-2013
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)

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Kardeş Türküler – Tencere Tava Havası (Sounds Of Pots and Pans) – Single (Self Released)
Vieux Farka Toure – Peace – Mon Pays (Six Degrees)
Myron & E – Going In Circles – Broadway (Stones Throw)

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Quadron – Crush – Avalanche (Vested In Culture)
The Pastels – Kicking Leaves – Slow Summits (Domino)
Camera Obscura – I Missed Your Party – Desire Lines (4AD)
The Summer Twins – I’m No Good – Forget Me EP (Burger)
The Gospel Clouds – Let Us Pray – Good God: Apocryphal Hymns (Numero)
Fela Kuti – Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am – Black President 2 (Knitting Factory)

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Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou – A Oo Ida – Vol. 3: The Skeletal Essences of Afro-Funk 1969-1980 (Analog Africa)
The Flamin’ Groovies – Gonna Rock Tonight – Flamingo (Kama Sutra)
Shannon & the Clams – Ozma – Dreams In the Rat House (Hardly Art)
Boogaloo Assassins – No No No – Single (Self-Released)

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Dom La Nena – Interview & Performance – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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Dom La Nena – Saudade – Ela (Six Degrees)
King – The Story – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)
Omar feat. Pino Palladino – There’s Nothing Like This – The Man (Freestyle Records)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)